Welcome to the first edition of the Canadian MLS Roundup: A bit of reading to catch you up on the happenings of the Canadian teams in MLS each week. My name is Ivan Sorensen and as a recent convert to Canadian football, I hope to share the journey with you all.

This past weekend saw Vancouver face off against Toronto in bitter weather. The crowd was rather lively in spite of the near-freezing temperatures and pouring rain made the pitch slippery and somewhat treacherous during the game.

The game saw plenty of energy and played out as a tough, physical contest with Vancouver in the ascendancy for much of it. Maintaining the upper hand in possession and racking up no less than 16 shots, the Toronto defence proved up to the task, however they struggled in building their own attacks and came out with only 6 shots.

On a technical level Vancouver also sat solid with much better passing and the ability to press hard and aggressively keeping control of the ball more even in the depths of the second half.

By the end of the match however, even after a generous 8 minutes of stoppage, the score remained 0-0. A tough grind in the freezing rain, both teams had given quite a lot.

Montreal ventured south of the border to play Chicago in front of a highly engaged crowd and under the tutelage of Italian Marco Donadel, former assistant coach and now acting as the interim coach after the firing of Laurent Courtois.

The game in the Windy City saw two teams with differing attitudes, Montreal attempting to build up more systematic attacks while Chicago relied on quick rushes when a breakthrough presented itself. Montreal managed more time on the ball during the first half but an unexpected breakthrough allowed Zinckernagel to score for Chicago at 40 minutes, sending the teams to half time with a Chicago lead.

The second half saw Montreal come out swinging with Sealy scoring at 51 minutes, levelling the score. It was a contested back and forth, but despite a few more Chicago breaks, Montreal was able to maintain most of the initiative. In the end, they ran up 7 shots on goal but the contest with the strong Chicago back line continued to frustrate their attempts and despite 7 minutes of stoppage time the match ended 1-1.

With the match day over and 6 games under the belts where does that leave the Canadian teams?

In the Eastern Conference things still look bleak: Montreal notching their second tie does get them to 2 points but a -7 goal differential leaves them straight last in the conference. Having had no home games so far, this is no doubt a difficult position for the interim coach to step into.

April 5th will see them take on Columbus for yet another away game. The record between these two teams is fairly even with 15 Columbus wins and 10 Montreal wins, 6 meetings ending in draws, however Columbus is going into the match with no losses this season, meaning they will almost certainly be a difficult contest in an away game for Montreal.

Toronto also sits at 2 points and just one goal ahead (with a -6 differential) and will play media favourites Miami on the 6th. Of 11 prior meetings, Miami has won 9 and they are going into the match with 5 consecutive wins and home field advantage.

Both Toronto and Montreal need to start notching some wins to begin the climb in the table but both are faced with very difficult games.

It is easy to feel discouraged, but one thing that was clear from this weekend’s games is that both teams have plenty of fight in them and one thing is certain in football: Never underestimate an underdog who wants it more. We will see if that turns out to be the case.

For Vancouver things are altogether more comfortable: At 13 points even with the draw they are sitting on top of the Western Conference and second in the Supporters Shield standings behind Miami. With the strong finish to the last season, I think fans were hopeful for a strong start but it seems many are a little surprised it has been as strong as it has.

After a CONCACAF tussle with Pumas, Vancouver will face Colorado on the 5th in what may be a very close match. Prior encounters have been even with Vancouver winning 11 and Colorado winning 13. Form this season has also been very even with Colorado taking 11 points so far.

Vancouver will have the home advantage so a win here is absolutely achievable but it will be a tough fight and we should cross fingers that Vancouver avoids serious injury against Pumas.

I hope you will tune in again next week as we continue the march through the MLS season from the Canadian perspective.